[LWJ] The Afghan military said it captured a German citizen who was fighting in Helmand province and belonged to the Taliban’s Red Unit, which the terrorist group fancies as an elite unit that spearheads attacks on Afghan forces.

The German national, who goes by the name Abdul Wadood, was captured along with two other Taliban fighters during a raid in the Gereshk distirct in the southern province of Helmand on Feb. 27, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense told reporters. Five Taliban fighters were also killed during the raid in Gereshk, which was described by Afghan officials as "an insurgent safe haven," TOLONews reported.

Wadood was "the military adviser of Mullah Nasir," who was described as the commander of the Taliban’s Red Unit (also known as the Red Group or the Blood Unit) in Helmand province, according to ATN News.

The US military claimed it killed the head of the Taliban’s Red Unit during a strike in Helmand on Dec. 1, 2017. The US military identified the leader of the Red Unit in Helmand as Mullah Shah Wali, who was also known as Haji Nasir.

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least four forces of Evil affiliated with the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in the US dronezaps in eastern Kunar and NangarharThe unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. provinces of Afghanistan.

The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East said the latest dronezaps were carried out in the past 24 hours.

According to Silab Corps, at least two of the forces of Evil were killed in Nawagi area in Achin district of eastern Nangarhar province.

In a similar Arclight airstrike in Watapur district of Kunar province... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country....., at least two more ISIS forces of Evil were killed, the 201st Silab Corps said.

The source also added that the airstrikes have not caused any casualty to the local residents.

[Libya Observer] Four people were maimed in heavy artillery shelling on Derna by gangs of the eastern forces of Khalifa Haftar...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...Residents in Derna reported that the shelling targeted Sayeda Khadija neighborhood in the city on Sunday.

The security chief in Derna, Yehya Osta Omar, told the press that four shells launched by Haftar-led gangs fell on the neighborhood in western Derna.

Omar added that the neighborhood targeted by the shelling is a residential area for workers of Derna steam power plant, adding that the shelling left material damage in some locations, pointing out the injury of a wife and a husband as well as their daughter as a shell fell on their house.

For months, Haftar’s forces have been tightening the siege on Derna with recurrent shelling of certain locations inside the city, while at the same time preventing fuel, foods and other basic needs from entering the city.

Over the last week, the self-styled army led by warlord Haftar started to mobilize fighters and send them to Derna suburbs, with Haftar calling on the resident to surrender their weapons.

The encirclement of Haftar’s forces, however, lingers despite the calls of the local and international organizations, the PC and the High Council of State to deescalate and end the conflict by dialogue, yet the inflexibility of the so-called eastern general command only worsened the crisis with no solutions in the horizon.

[Libya Observer] Three people, including on baby girl, were killed and over 12 were maimed as festivities renewed Tuesday in Sabha, Libya’s south, front man for the Sabha Medical Center, Osama al-Wafi confirmed.

According to local sources, an gang attacked Sabha Martyrs Brigade headquarters in al-Nasiriya neighborhood, adding that the festivities got intense using all kinds of arms, including tanks.

"The attacking gang then withdrew as al-Nasiriya neighborhood saw a wave of displacement due to the heavy festivities." The sources added.

Sabha Red Islamic Thingy branch called on the warring parties to ceasefire and allocated an emergency number for providing civilians with the needed medical aids and other necessities, including securing them out of the festivities zone.

Meanwhile,...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his shoulder. Ow! he exclaimed, with feeling...... the operations room for Sabha that was formed by Khalifa Haftar...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... and headed by Mohammed al-Manfor held a meeting on Monday at Brak al-Shatti airbase with Tubu and Awlad Sulaiman rustics and then announced a ceasefire truce and disowning the parties that use arms to settle down any upcoming conflicts in the south.

The festivities that started days ago between Tubu and Awlad Sulaiman tribes in Sabha took many turns with each party exchanging treason and using mercenaries’ accusations as the conflict began to gain political importance with one party voicing loyalty to Tripoli...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...-based Presidential Council and the second to warlord Haftar.

[Libya Observer] Gunmen from Saiqa Force blocked a number of main roads in east and west Benghazi including airport road, in addition to burning tires in areas blocked since Monday, eyewitnesses reported.

The reasons for the riots by Saiqa Force are not known yet, however, some sources said they are likely in protest of the detention of some Saiqa leaders such as Mahmoud al-Werfalli, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, or the news about placing Saiqa commander Wanis Bukhamada under house arrest.

Meanwhile,...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising. And then he smelled the smoke... pro-Haftar Tariq Bin Ziyad Brigade conducted detentions of many Saiqa fighters on Monday, especially those who were part of the riots against Haftar lately.

Telecommunications went down in Benghazi after the detentions campaign and residents believe that the move is connected to the protests as such an act has been reported more than once over protests or bombings.

In the meantime, Saiqa Force, security operations room and Haftar's general command did not issue any official clarification for the incident or the loss of telecom signals.

This is the third time button men loyal to Dignity Operation block Benghazi roads as on February 07 they closed the streets and burnt tires calling for the release of al-Werfalli, who then handed himself over to Haftar's command in al-Marij town for investigation into his war crimes.

On February 19, gang in Benghazi also closed the roads in south and east of the city and eyewitnesses said the protesters - civilians and Saiqa Force fighters - held slogans against Haftar in protest of the dismissal of Wanis Bukhamada from his post as the commander of military operations room in Benghazi.

Haftar sacked Bukhamada in mid-February and appointed Abdelrazik al-Nathori - the now chief of staff - in his place, with a statement by Saiqa Force front man justifying the move as appointing Bukhamada in Derna frontline, where a number of Saiqa Force brigades were tasked to go.

[ARABNEWS] More than 20 African migrants colonists were missing and feared drowned Tuesday after scores of people seeking to reach Italia were rescued from unseaworthy boats off the Libyan coast, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.

A Cypriot merchant ship picked up 72 migrants colonists in international waters on Saturday, 30 of whom had left Libya on a wooden boat and 42 others from a rubber dinghy.

They were then handed over to the Aquarius humanitarian ship chartered by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The IOM said that after arriving at the port of Pozzallo in Sicily on Tuesday, the survivors from the first group told them that 21 people traveling with them had been lost at sea.

"People fell in the water when people panicked overnight and the boat almost capsized," a young Gambia... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...n migrant told SOS Mediterranee.

"There were five women on board, four drowned, one of whom was a pregnant woman. My brother died."

Those in the second group said that 90 people were rescued by the Libyan coasties and taken back to Libya.

"We do not know exactly how it happened but families have been separated and we are trying to see how to bring them back together," Flavio Di Giacomo, front man for IOM in Italia, told AFP.

Italia’s interior ministry said 5,300 migrants colonists have arrived in the country this year, 66 percent fewer than over the same period of 2017.

[SABANEWS.NET] The engineering unit of the army and the popular committees burned on Monday a military truckload of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al- Yatmah desert in Khab wa Shaaf district of Jawf, amilitary official told Saba. The operation took place in al- Yatmah desert, causing casualties in the military vehicles, said the official.

h/t Instapundit
Police said a homemade explosive device was the item discovered in a backpack at Pine View High School Monday that forced the evacuation of the school. Police said if the device had detonated, it would have caused significant injury or death. Police have a suspect in custody.

A warrant served at the home of a male juvenile found materials consistent with the materials used to build the device.

Police also said the suspect had been researching information and expressing interest in ISIS and promoting the organization.

The boy has not been identified but police said he was attending a class at Pine View.

Diyala (IraqiNew.com) A suicide bomber was killed on Tuesday when he became under siege by Iraqi troops at Diyala province, a commander was quoted saying.

Ziyad al-Tamimi, a spokesperson of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Diyala, said a suicide bomber clad in an explosive belt was killed during an operation in Hafayer, Hamreen, northeast of the province.

He said that an Islamic State hideout and ammunition were also destroyed as part of the operation

He did not explain whether the suicide attacker blew himself up or was shot dead before detonating his belt.

Diyala (Iraqinews.com) – Four Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in clashes with pro-government troops on a border area between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, local sources told Basnews website Monday.

“The clashes between al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) and IS militants took place after the extremists tried to infiltrate into Diyala province via Matibijah area on the province’s border with Salahuddin,” the sources said.

The sources pointed out that IS militants were “wearing explosive belts when the clashes erupted.”

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) An Islamic State emir was arrested in an operation in south of Mosul, the military intelligence department announced on Tuesday.

In a statement, the department said, “an operation was carried out depending on an accurate information that enabled the military intelligence to arrest an Islamic State emir in Hammam al-Alil region in south of Mosul.”

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Thirty Islamic State members were killed in operations carried out by the Iraqi troops, southwest of Kirkuk, the governor announced.

In a statement on Tuesday, Rakan al-Jabouri said, “we discussed along with a high-level delegation from the Joint Operations Command the security situations in the province as well as efforts made to guarantee security stability. We command the role made by military troops in Kirkuk, which followed the remnants of Islamic State and contributed to restabilizing of the liberated regions and repatriation of refugees.”

He also praised the victory made by the Federal Police along with al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), which killed more than 30 IS during operations in southwest of Kirkuk.

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Interior Ministry has announced arresting two Islamic State members as they fled Diyala province toward Baghdad to hide from security troops.

In a statement on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Saad Maan, the ministry spokesperson, said, “the intelligence of the federal troops managed to arrest two Islamic State members, who are part of the so-called Diyala State. They fled toward Baghdad to escape security services.”

[Ynet] The Lod District Court sentenced an Eritrea...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age...n national, convicted this past October, to 11 years in prison for kidnapping and aggravated group rape.

The man was convicted along with four other Eritreans of kidnapping, incarceration and the rape of a woman in her thirties in Rishon LeZion in 2015.

While the man did not rape the victim, it was determined he was involved with her rape, partly by watching a door while his friends raped the woman.

[DAWN] Sri Lanka on Tuesday declared a nationwide state of emergency after riots targeting Moslems left at least two people dead and homes ablaze in a hill station popular with tourists.

The government said it was imposing the extraordinary measures after police failed to curb violence in Kandy, a central district famed for its tea plantations and Buddhist relics.

Heavily-armed police commandos were deployed to restore order in Kandy after rioters defied an overnight curfew and went on the rampage.

"The government is taking all possible measures to protect the people, especially Moslems," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament.

He said an inquiry had also been opened into security lapses by police that allowed mobs of Sinhalese rioters to burn mosques as well as homes and businesses belonging to Moslems.

The body of a 24-year-old Moslem man was pulled out of a burnt home on Tuesday. Police said two dozen people had been locked away... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in the wake of the riots.

The emergency measures, imposed for the first time since 2011, give authorities sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects for long periods, and deploy forces where needed.

Riots erupted on Monday after a man from the island's mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority died at the hands of a Moslem mob last week.

President Maithripala Sirisena said the measures would "redress the unsatisfactory security situation prevailing in certain parts of the country".

Riots erupted on Monday after a man from the island's mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority died at the hands of a Moslem mob last week.

Hakeem said the riots were concentrated in Kandy, but the government wanted to send a strong message following recent outbreaks of communal violence elsewhere in the country.

Mobs set fire to Moslem-owned businesses and attacked a mosque in the east of the country last week after a Moslem chef was accused of adding contraceptives to food sold to Sinhalese customers.

The government dismissed the allegation as baseless and ordered the arrest of those fomenting unrest in the area.

Last November riots in the south of the island left one man dead and homes and vehicles damaged.

In June 2014 riots between Buddhists and Moslems left four dead and many injured.

#4
It's even worse. The Buddhists in Sri Lanka won a very vicious multi-decade civil war against Hindu Tamil immigrants. (Tamils brought in under the British Rule to harvest and raise tea that Buddhist refused to do for the English plantation owners.) The Buddhist learned to fight so bad the UN constantly censored them for human rights violations and wanted the whole government in the ICC for war crimes. Then the Buddhists built the peace as they pleased. Only the People's Republic of China would deal with them so the two are now fast friends and the PLAN docks there. Now some muslims that are a much smaller portion of the population then the Tamil were want to riot and get their way? Are they fricking total morons? It will not end well for them! Mark these words!

[Ynet] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... will set up camps to settle 170,000 people in nine locations near Syria's Idlib, and in the area Ankara controls by further east in northern Syria, Ottoman Turkish diplomatic sources said.

Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies, which six weeks ago launched an operation in the Idlib region targeting the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters, also control a swathe of land further east in Syria that stretching from the area around Azaz to the Euphrates river, which was taken during its "Euphrates Shield" operation that ended in early in 2017.

According to reports from local activists, Russian airpower delivered at least four strikes within the city.

Military-affiliated sources say that the bombardment was carried out with precision weapons which targeted bases belonging to the Turkistan Islamic Party (a powerful al-Qaeda affiliate militia mostly made up of Uyghur colonists from western China).

The air attack over Jisr ash-Shugur was in response to a ceasefire-breaking assault launched by the Turkistan Islamic Party and Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham (better known by is former name Jabhat al-Nusra...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...) against Syrian Army positions near the Hama-Latakia provincial border on Monday.

Jisr ash-Shugur is under the complete control of the Turkistan Islamic Party; the city serves as the bad boy group’s capital stronghold in Syria.

[ALMASDARNEWS] With Salafist tough guys now expelled from almost 40% of the Eastern Ghouta region, the Syrian Army continues to reclaim more territories as battles intensify.

Today, the government troops manage to impose full control on al-Asha’ari farms outskirts located to the west of Hawsh Asha’ari town; now expected to fall at any given moment.

Meanwhile,...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... rebel defensives are steadily collapsing as army units in the recently-restored al-Muhamadiyah town advance toward Aftris and Hawah Qubaybat.

In the meantime, festivities are ongoing inside al-Rayhan town where the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful... is showing a strong resistance.

According to an informed military source, the murderous Moslems are desperately seeking a safe escape out of al-Rayhan before being completely overwhelmed by the Syrian Army.

With the whole Asha’ari- Aftris- Qubaybat axis retaken by the government, the Army would be at the gates of the heavily-populated towns of East Ghouta such as Hamuriyah, Saqba and Jisrin.

[DAWN] The Russian military said on Tuesday that rebels were being allowed to leave Syria's Eastern Ghouta enclave via a humanitarian corridor together with their families and firearms, news agencies reported.

"This time the humanitarian corridor was open not just for Eastern Ghouta's civilians but for fighters with their families," Russian military officer Vladimir Zolotukhin in Eastern Ghouta was quoted as saying.

"Members of illegal gangs are allowed to carry personal weapons," he added, without clarifying what options would be available to any rebels who arrived in the government-controlled zone.

Moscow has been managing a corridor out of the besieged Eastern Ghouta region for eight days, with a daily "humanitarian pause" between 9am and 2pm meant to encourage civilians to leave the zone.

But the plan, which was also supposed to give a chance for aid and medical supplies to reach those in need, has mostly failed to work as the region outside Damascus remains under continued regime bombardment.

Moscow has accused the rebels in Eastern Ghouta of blocking civilians from using the corridor. On Monday, only 13 people were able to exit the enclave together with a United Nations...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... convoy, the Russian military said.

[ALMASDARNEWS] A huge contingent of Syrian Kurdish fighters have departed from their positions and bases in the provinces of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor en-route to the mountainous countryside of Afrin to assist friendly forces currently battling it out with the Ottoman Turkish Army and pro-Ankara militias.

The withdrawal of some 1,700 Kurdish fighters &dash; essentially a regiment-sized force &dash; from the greater Raqqa and Deir Ezzor areas towards Afrin has been confirmed by official Kurdish sources.

YPG units have always provided the main striking power of all SDF operations against Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....bully boyz in northern and eastern Syria to date.

However,some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... these veteran forces now enter a new battle (against a much tougher opponent) missing a core support asset which they have hitherto enjoyed in copious amounts of &dash; US coalition airpower.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.